Misunderstandings
by Dashel
Summary: After getting an anonymous love letter, Naruto wants to know who might have given it to him and what it might lead to or mean. But his ideals of romance get a little sidetracked when he realises that his ideal girl might in fact be his ideal guy instead after a game of proving a point where attraction is concerned goes a little too far.
1. The Letter and a Simple Kiss

_**AN:**__ So this is a present fic for the wonderful Sheechiibii. Well this my perhaps failed attempt at the request given to me anyway. Sorry about that, I thought I had a good idea that would bring about a lot of little misunderstandings and fun hijinks but I don't think I quite hit the mark as Sheechiibii intended. I did try in the beginning but somewhere it evolved a little into something else and my mission directive sort of got a little lost. Anyway so Sheechiibii if you feel I didn't get there let me know and perhaps I can work something else out for you :)_

_This story is not set in any particular timeframe either. Let's just say Sasuke came back to the village and everyone lived happily ever after. Yay for vagueness. All this is is a little bit of fun. _

_**Warnings: **__This is rated M for very good reasons. It also contains yaoi and some sexual content, swearing and all that good stuff. This is also __**NaruSasu**__ so if you don't like that, don't read, you won't like it. There will also be some OOCness in there. I am aware of it and for once didn't try too hard to fix it. I blame this on the pace of the fic which I also know is way too fast. Honestly I could have made this go for ten chapters instead of the expected two in which I could round out the characters a little more and add more situations but in the end I settled for something faster and less dragging. Which is a pity 'cause sheechiibii did an awesome job inspiring me with this one but for now I didn't want another huge fic. Perhaps in the fullness of time I can go for a re-edit and make it longer. _

_Did I mention this was __**NaruSasu**__? Well it was worth mentioning again. It's rare I can state that with complete confidence in the beginning of any multi-chaptered fic so if you are a diehard Sasuke is top fan, stop now. No really. You wont get your fix here._

**_Disclaimer: _**_I do not make money from this and I don't own Naruto nor any of the characters in the series. Obviously if I did there would be far more nakedness. _**  
**

**Misunderstandings**

**By Dash**

**Chapter 1**

**The Letter and A Matter of a Simple Kiss**

It started with a letter. Not any sort of letter, a love letter no less. It had no name, no hint as to who might have written it, or when exactly it had been planted in his jacket either.

Naruto had stripped his jacket off for training and left it on the ground at the side of the field while he and his team trained. But then at the end of training he had stayed behind to finish up some drills and the others had left. He hadn't noticed any of them nor anyone else go near his jacket but then he hadn't exactly been watching either. All he knew was that when he had taken it off it had nothing in the pockets and now he had one small slim blue envelope in his pocket and no clue as to how it had gotten there.

He sat on a fallen log at the edge of the field and stared at the writing trying to figure out if he knew the handwriting. It didn't look familiar but then again he couldn't for the life of him remember what _anyone's_ handwriting looked like anyway. It could be from anyone.

And as if the appearance of the letter wasn't strange enough, the writing was well… very personal.

_Naruto,_

_ I wish I could say these things to you in person but I cannot because I fear you do not feel for me the way I feel for you._

_ You are the kindest, amazing and most good-hearted person I have ever met. My life would not be half as happy as it is now if you had not been there for me. Even though I fear rejection from you I felt I had to tell you, to let you know that someone out there cares about you, is forever grateful to have you in their life and have been made better for the experience._

_ I wanted you to know that you are loved,_

_ I want you to be happy,_

_And I wish we could be together._

And that was that. No signature, nothing else to go on just a sort of uneasy feeling that someone might to go to so much trouble to tell him something without actually wanting him to know who that someone was.

Of course the uneasy feeling was followed up by a vaguely warm feeling. It was a nice letter really, someone wanted to know that they cared and it made him smile a little to think that someone really did.

But he really wished he knew who. He wasn't really someone that could let something like this stay a mystery no matter what might happen. He wanted to know who it was but peering at the letter didn't seem to reveal anything new to him so instead he got to his feet and started walking back to his apartment.

It was possible the person was too shy. Or perhaps they were too embarrassed 'cause as the letter said, they didn't think Naruto might want them back. If that was the case…

Naruto sighed, _probably not Sakura then._

She probably knew how he felt about her so she wouldn't fear being rejected. But then she had once previously told him she loved him and he had rejected _her_. Of course he'd told her why at the time. She was still in love with Sasuke and had just been confessing to help Naruto get over the promise he'd made to her. But still, it had been a rejection of sorts so maybe she wouldn't be so open about it the next time.

Naruto frowned.

_But she is still in love with him anyway. And he's back in the village. There's no way the letter was from Sakura._

"Dobe."

Naruto's head shot up and turned toward the voice. There was Sasuke standing just off the field, arms crossed casually over his chest.

"Teme, don't sneak up on me!"

Sasuke smirked at him. "I'm a ninja remember, that thing you are always pretending to be."

Well if there was ever one person who could bring him down out of a high happy daze it was Sasuke. Funny how things never seemed to change.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked gesturing toward the paper clasped tightly in his hand.

"Nothing! None of your business!" Naruto snapped going a little pink and shoving the paper back into the envelope.

"Whatever, we've been summoned for a mission."

"What, just the two of us?" Naruto asked surprised.

"That a problem?"

"No, I'm just surprised, that's all."

And with good reason. This would be Sasuke's first mission since coming back when he wouldn't be under the watchful eye of Kakashi. And of all the people to team Sasuke up with apparently Tsunade had chosen him. Suddenly he felt better again at the show of confidence.

"That would explain the stupid expression then. We leave tomorrow."

* * *

"Will you fucking focus!" Sasuke swore at him.

Sasuke's rage was clearly displayed on his face as he stalked over to Naruto, red faced and breathing hard. Naruto couldn't really blame him. He hadn't been paying attention, he had almost gotten both of them killed and it was all his fault.

Of course that didn't in any way mean he would allow Sasuke to think that.

"I was focussed! It's not my fault they circled around."

"Yes it is! You were supposed to be watching the rear, _you_ were supposed to know if anyone was sneaking up on us, that's the whole fucking point!"

Okay so maybe Sasuke had a point he couldn't argue his way around.

"Fine, I get it, I screwed up!"

Sasuke was obviously expecting the yelling match to continue for longer than that and was a little derailed by his abrupt victory. The anger contorting his features eased and he frowned at Naruto for a few moments in silence.

"What's wrong with you?"

Naruto blinked at the unexpected question, a little derailed himself.

"What do you mean?"

"Not even you could have missed them coming up behind us. You're not that much of a fuck up. Most of the time."

"Was there a compliment in there, or are you just being an asshole? 'Cause there is no way you're concerned."

"If you are being distracted enough to let us get killed I _am_ concerned. Just not about you so much."

Despite himself Naruto felt a half smile form on his face. This was Sasuke's attempt at a joke or as near as he ever really got to one. Pity his jokes were always on the mean side still, but at least the attempt was there which was more than Naruto could say for pre-returned Sasuke.

"You made a joke," Naruto said like a proud parent.

"Partially. Look, just get over whatever the hell it is that is bothering you so we can finish the mission without getting killed, okay?"

Naruto lost his smile. "Uh, sure Sasuke."

* * *

As they continued on, Sasuke seemed not to care what was distracting Naruto at all, only that he put it out of his mind. But Naruto couldn't function like that. For him, problems needed to be sorted out or at the very least he needed to get to a place in his head where he felt better about the situation rather than worried. Usually it helped for him to talk about it to someone but unfortunately Sasuke was the only one here and he wasn't much for reassurance at the best of times.

Oh well, any port in a storm.

"Heya, Sasuke?" Naruto asked as they moved through the trees.

Sasuke made a sort of soft grunt which Naruto took to be permission to continue.

"Do you get a lot of love letters?"

Apparently Sasuke hadn't been expecting this question at all and he looked over at Naruto with a strange expression.

"Why?"

"I got one."

"That's what's bugging you?"

"Yeah, kind of. It didn't say who it was from."

"I'm going to hazard a guess and say that the person is probably deaf or blind to be at all interested in you."

"Teme, I'm being serious!"

"So am I. Why the hell would a letter distract you so much anyway?"

"It's not like a get a lot of them," Naruto confessed. "And I want to know who she is."

"You hope it's a she."

Naruto's eyes got real wide at that. It was a possibility that had never occurred to him before.

"Of course it's a she!" Naruto immediately shot back. But after a few moments of thinking had to ask, "Isn't it?"

"How the hell should I know?" Sasuke asked a shade defensively.

"You're making fun of me," Naruto accused.

"Yes. But it's still a valid point. Perhaps your secret admirer is remaining secret because he knew what your reaction would be."

Naruto pondered over that point. What Sasuke made sense he supposed. Didn't mean it was a guy though, a girl might have been just as afraid of what he might say.

"Well, either way it's still pretty flattering I guess. Guy or girl, they said some pretty nice things."

"How very open of you," Sasuke told him insincerely.

"Okay fine, so it's not like I'm gonna be interested in a guy, but it was still nice to read that anyone cares that much no matter who they are. And don't say it like you think like I'd be all disgusted or whatever. I bet you'd try to gouge their eyes out if a guy ever came onto you."

"What makes you think that?"

That pretty much made Naruto freeze in his tracks. Sasuke noticed he wasn't being followed after a few seconds and turned around.

"What?" Sasuke asked testily.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously what?"

"What you just said."

Sasuke frowned. "I just meant that you shouldn't judge people so readily about anything. I was making a point."

"That… doesn't answer my question…"

"It also means that you shouldn't be so thrilled about the contents of a letter before you know who sent it either. Anyone can write nice sentiments on a bit of paper, it doesn't mean it will turn out to be the girl of your dreams. For all you know it could be some crazy stalker girl, or some other girl who's just trying to mess with you. Or a guy. Now if you don't mind I want to get this mission finished before the end of the day if your brain can actually manage to focus on two things at once."

* * *

In the end, the mission turned out to be a bit of a bust. Apparently the ninja that had come after them in the forest had been the bulk of the rogue force and had left the hideout to be guarded by only one member. They had no problems taking the last guy down and retrieved the scrolls they had been sent after in quick order.

On the way back they pushed themselves to make it back to Konoha but even at their best speed they would spend another night or two out in the forest.

When they camped down on their first night Naruto settled down to take the first watch on a boulder overlooking their little clearing. Sasuke had lain down on his bedding and looked to be asleep so Naruto dragged out the by now very crumpled envelope and took out the note again.

He must have read over it a hundred times by now but nothing in his study had so far given him any clues as to who it might have been. At this point he couldn't keep telling himself that he was only reading it now for that purpose. Truthfully he just liked the way the letter made him feel.

He was momentarily startled when someone jumped up and sat down beside him scaring the absolute shit out of him. He had thought Sasuke was asleep.

"Gods, Sasuke! Stop creeping up!"

"As intent as you were I think an elephant could have snuck up on you," Sasuke observed plucking the note out of Naruto's stunned fingers. "Is this what you are so obsessed over?"

"Sasuke, no! That's private!" Naruto exclaimed making a grab to reclaim the note. But Sasuke simply put a palm to Naruto's forehead and leaned away so Naruto couldn't reach it and scanned the note.

Once he'd had a quick look he handed it back only to have Naruto snatch it back and glower at him.

Sasuke looked thoughtful and Naruto wondered what he was thinking about. He should have been embarrassed that Sasuke had read something so private but Sasuke was pretty smart and Naruto was curious if he might have been able to work out something he had missed.

"So?" Naruto asked grudgingly, tucking the note away.

"So what?"

"So you read it, do _you_ know who might have written it?"

"No," Sasuke confessed but something about Sasuke's tone seemed a little off and Naruto wondered if he might be lying.

"Teme, just tell me if you know something. It's been driving me nuts!"

"And you think that doesn't amuse me?"

"You could at least tell me if you think it's a guy or a girl," Naruto groused. "After all that talk earlier you've got me wondering now."

Sasuke smirked at him. "And why would I tell? I thought you said it didn't make any difference because it's what was said that counted. Or would thinking it's a guy ruin the fantasy of possible romance too much?"

Despite the jerky little smirk, Naruto got the impression that Sasuke was more than making fun of him. Actually he seemed a little snippy about it. Naruto could only assume that Sasuke did indeed think that the letter writer was a guy. Naruto sighed. Oh well, perhaps it did ruin the fantasy a little bit.

"Okay so maybe not romance then," Naruto allowed. "But it's not like it freaks me out either. What he said was still really nice and I'd still like to thank them for it."

"Oh and what if they are hoping for a thank you in the form of a kiss? Would you still thank them? Whoever it is, they're obviously interested in romance even if you aren't."

Naruto's immediate reaction was to say no. But then Sasuke was acting a little strangely and something about his behaviour stopped him from saying it. Instead he gave the idea some proper thought.

"Just a kiss?"

"Sure, just a little kiss."

"Well maybe. I mean that's not too weird right?"

"Might depend on the person."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I wouldn't kiss _you_ for a dare, that's for certain."

Naruto felt the flush heat up his neck on the way to his face. "Asshole, I wouldn't kiss you either, no matter if you wrote me the nicest letter in the history of nice letters!"

"Yeah but you like girls so that's not really saying anything."

Naruto almost swallowed his tongue at that. Did that mean that Sasuke didn't? It would explain a few things that was for sure, but the news surprisingly failed to freak him out. Actually he was too incensed at Sasuke's dismissive attitude of him that freaking out wasn't even an option.

"What the hell is wrong with me?"

The reaction actually made Sasuke grin. A full real grin, it was astonishing to see. Naruto got the sudden impression that it was exactly the right kind of reaction to have, even if he couldn't see why.

"Do you want me to make you a list?"

"If this is about personalities, fine, I get that I annoy you. But I look good, why wouldn't you want to kiss me?"

"Don't _we_ like ourselves," Sasuke commented mildly.

"Just stating the facts," Naruto replied confidently. "But okay fine, if you wouldn't kiss me, who would you kiss?"

Sasuke shrugged. "No one I can think of at the moment. I'm going to sleep."

"That's not fair!"

Sasuke didn't answer him and Naruto watched him return to his bedding with a frown.

* * *

The next day of walking was spent silently. Naruto was thoughtfully watching Sasuke while Sasuke pretended to ignore him almost completely. By the look on his face though he was failing miserably.

Two hours into the trip, the two stopped running to take a break and walk for an hour or so and Sasuke's patience finally snapped. He rounded on Naruto, glaring.

"What already?!"

If Naruto was at all intimidated by Sasuke's tone he didn't show it at all.

"How do you know you like guys?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and began walking again, Naruto matching his pace, still with that thoughtful look.

"How do you think, moron?"

Naruto made a face as though he realised this was a stupid question. But he also didn't seem derailed at all.

"Do you check out a guy and think 'ooo he has a nice ass' or something?"

At this point Sasuke realised he wasn't going to get out of this easily. Apparently Naruto was curious. Which was annoying but it could have been worse.

"It doesn't work any differently than you checking out girls."

Naruto frowned. "Yeah but it's not like I stare at them or anything. I like people cause of how they make me feel, not really how they look."

"That's bullshit," Sasuke stated dismissively. "You'd take a peek at Sakura naked if you had the chance. Or the balls," he added as an afterthought.

"Hey, I have balls!" Naruto said indignantly. But then in a more subdued tone, "but I like them where they are too which is why I'm never going to try _that_ again."

"But the fact remains that you _want_ to look. Which means you find her attractive."

"But it's not all about looks," Naruto persisted. "Well for me it isn't. But I guess you're saying that's not true for you which is why I don't get why you wouldn't want to kiss me."

Sasuke almost tripped at that statement. So _that's_ what this was all about? He wasn't merely curious, he was still annoyed about what Sasuke had said last night.

"You're resistible, trust me," Sasuke told him.

"No I'm not," Naruto told him with a big grin.

It was entirely possible Naruto was teasing him but Sasuke was by far over the conversation by now. Luckily he was pretty sure he knew of a way to stop it in its tracks.

He stopped and turned, grabbing Naruto's arm to swing him around and with a palm on his chest forced him backwards into the tree behind him. He put his face mere inches from Naruto's.

"Are you trying to tell me you _want_ me to kiss you?"

"I just want you to admit that it's not always about looks," Naruto said slightly wide-eyed by this sudden turn of events. "Like I said with that letter. Whoever wrote it said some really nice things so they're probably a nice person. And that's what really counts."

"And like _you_ said, it does matter what they look like otherwise you'd want them even if it was a guy," Sasuke pointed out with a smirk.

"That's different," Naruto argued. "Your talking about something that has more to do with preference than attraction. You said you liked guys, I'm a guy and I'm pretty hot but you aren't attracted to me. _That_ means you have a problem with my personality."

"And that surprises you?"

"Not at all, but it proves my point. Face it, no amount of looks can make up for someone being a complete bastard," he finished with a significant look.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto's smug expression before letting him go and stepping back. It almost seemed like Naruto was _trying_ to talk him into kissing him. But that was stupid, he was just trying to prove a point, wasn't he? But he was leaving Sasuke very few alternatives to prove his own point if that was the case. He either had to tell Naruto he wasn't remotely good looking or go ahead and kiss him.

Whatever the deal was with Naruto, it certainly got him thinking. Naruto wasn't completely wrong, sometimes no amount of looks could make up for someone being a complete bastard as Naruto had said. And it wasn't precisely correct that he didn't find Naruto attractive either, he just refused to think about some people that way. It had been Naruto who had been instrumental in getting him back into his Konoha lifestyle and Sasuke wasn't above admitting that without his influence, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to.

Such an important friend was simply just not thought about as a possible bed partner because that's how you ruined friendships. So he'd never even for a moment allowed himself to think about Naruto in such a way. Even opening up to him like he had last night was a spur of the moment thing. He had thought Naruto might take it badly, not that he might just be pissed because Sasuke wasn't interested in him in that way. Just what kind of a message was that?

At first he'd thought the reaction was perfect. Naruto wasn't freaked at all apparently. But now he just wanted to push it and pushing wasn't good for Sasuke when it made him think about things he'd rather not think about. Especially if it was only Naruto's goal to tease him about how he thought of people. But if that was Naruto's only goal why the hell was he being so damned determined? Was it actually possible that Naruto…

"Uh, Sasuke, are you okay? You've gone all white."

"Fine. But your point isn't won yet, I can still prove you wrong. I could agree that you're appealing and kiss you. Or I don't agree with that and do nothing. Either way I win."

Naruto looked at him expectantly for a few moments with faint traces of apprehension on his face and Sasuke found himself wishing he knew why. Perhaps he was worried Sasuke might actually kiss him, that seemed to be the real threat here. Oh well, Sasuke supposed he had his answer after all.

As the moments dragged on Naruto began to frown.

"You're not doing anything."

Sasuke smirked at him. "You noticed that huh?"

Sasuke turned and began walking again without looking back around to see if Naruto was following him. But he couldn't help but snort in amusement when he eventually heard Naruto quite angrily realise he'd been insulted.

"You asshole, Sasuke!"

* * *

So Sasuke didn't think he was attractive. Normally he wouldn't be so bothered by this but he was. It was mostly due to the fact that he had been insulted that made him want to get revenge for this slight. Naruto might not have a legion of fangirls like Sasuke did, but he knew he wasn't bad looking. And he might have been a little overly boastful to Sasuke earlier but he was cute, right? He'd had enough people tell him. But stupid Sasuke just had to prove him wrong and insult him all at the same time. Honestly he would have rather have been kissed if Sasuke was so hell bent on proving his point.

_Wait, what?_

Naruto mentally slapped his own forehead. What the hell was he thinking? He did _not_ want Sasuke to kiss him. But he had to admit that he _had_ sort of been expecting it. He'd only gotten nervous when Sasuke had hesitated and looked as though this was not going to happen.

But whatever, Sasuke had won the first round, he couldn't really deny it. So he forgot about trying to get Sasuke to admit the allure of emotional connection and decided to play the game as Sasuke seemed to believe it should be played. And doing that ought to be fairly simple since all he had to do was tease the ever-living fuck out of the smug Uchiha bastard.

He refused to believe he looked bad but instead chose to believe that Sasuke just didn't see it. Well he'd _make_ him see it.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: Well by now you can see how I've diverged a little from what was asked but somehow I'm still enjoying how the story is rolling out so I decided to stick with it rather than scrap it completely. You can also see what I mean by a little OOC, probably more Sasuke than Naruto. But hey, for a quick light and hopefully somewhat amusing little fic, Sasuke's 'must avenge' personality leaves little room for fun so I've had to inject a little more into his character than I probably should have. But what the hell, this is a little bit into the future and it's a little more fun this way ;) _

_ There should only be two chapters for this. And I know in Dash-speak that usually means three but we'll see how we go. Originally it was only going to be one chapter but it got a little too big *looks sheepish*_

_ Till next time!_

_ Dash._


	2. The Results of a Day of Teasing

**Misunderstandings**

**Chapter 2**

**The Slip and the Results of a Day of Teasing**

The day was a warm one and when they stopped for a break at midday, Sasuke took a long drink from his canteen and looked over toward Naruto. Thankfully he didn't spit out the entire contents of his mouth, merely dribbled a little bit.

Naruto had pulled his shirt off, lifted his canteen to take a drink before drizzling the rest over his head with every sign that it was the best feeling in the world to have that cool water slide down the sides of his neck, over his face and run little rivers over his tan arms and chest. Sasuke watched as the little rivulets ran in between muscles and down to be soaked up by the low hanging hem of his pants.

His face was upturned, eyes closed and he sighed deeply. And was it Sasuke's imagination or did that sigh almost sound like a moan of pleasure?

Naruto shook his head to clear off the water plastering his hair to his head and gave Sasuke a bright smile.

"Damn it's hot today," he announced.

"You're wasting your water idiot," Sasuke told him.

"I filled up two canteens at the last river we crossed. I'll be good until we pass the lake tomorrow," Naruto assured him.

Sasuke didn't feel like arguing anymore and let it go.

* * *

It was mid afternoon and Naruto still hadn't put his shirt back on but Sasuke couldn't really blame him. It was muggy in the forest, Sakura wasn't around to punch him for walking around half naked and no doubt the cool air felt nice on his skin. Sasuke might have done the same except being paler than Naruto meant that he would probably just burn rather than be cooler no matter how much tree cover they had.

Naruto seemed to be over his sulking from this morning which was a relief and carried on a happy conversation as they used the trees to cover more ground. Sasuke could barely hear him because they were moving too fast but he didn't miss the yelp as Naruto missed his footing and fell.

Before he thought about it, Sasuke stopped, turned and launched himself downwards in an attempt to halt Naruto's fall before he hit the ground oh so far beneath them.

He barely managed it, grabbing Naruto mid-fall around the waist and jumping down again to slide for a few metres across the ground before coming to a stop.

He had one arm around Naruto's waist and could feel Naruto breathe deeply for a few moments before he seemed to recover himself. Sasuke would have removed himself from such close proximity but Naruto had instinctively grabbed his arm as they had come in for a landing and his continuing tight grip on it kept him in place.

Naruto's skin felt smooth and very very warm under his palm. He'd never really noticed before but Naruto had no scars, no blemishes, nothing that a ninja his age who had taken the same kind of beating as he had over the years should have. His skin felt soft and perfect but firm where taut muscle flexed as he breathed. His skin made golden by the sun smelt like the forest too, earthy and…

_Am I really sniffing the dobe?_ Sasuke asked himself with a shock.

"Let go of my arm," Sasuke ordered.

"Right," Naruto replied as though realising only just now he'd been clutching Sasuke's arm for dear life. "Sorry. I should really watch where I'm going," he added with a rueful smile.

Sasuke, finally free, stepped away from him. "I'm surprised you fell. Even more surprised that you didn't recover the fall on your own," Sasuke told him a little suspiciously.

"I was going to," Naruto said defensively. "You just beat me to it. I'm surprised you even came after me."

"Reflex," Sasuke stated dismissively with a casual wave of his hand. "Maybe I've just gotten used to saving your ass all the time."

It was meant to be offensive but Naruto just shrugged and grinned again. "Well I'm not complaining."

"That would be a first," Sasuke muttered.

* * *

They stopped moving at dusk before it got too hard to see where they were going. The day had been warm and Sasuke sat on a fallen tree to ease a pain in his leg he had gotten from catching Naruto and arresting both of their falls.

Embarrassingly he had miscalculated a little. The last time he'd had to do anything like that was when they'd been children. Needless to say Naruto had weighed a lot less then. But even if he had been prepared for an adult's weight, he hadn't realised just how heavy Naruto had gotten. Growing into adulthood had definitely made Naruto fill out and muscle weighed a lot as it turned out.

Not that he was _overly_ muscled that just wouldn't look as good…

Sasuke rubbed his aching thigh a few more times in annoyance. Just what the hell was wrong with him lately? Had the episode this morning made his brain go numb to common sense? Had Naruto really managed to get him to think about things he shouldn't be thinking about?

All of those were distinct possibilities and Sasuke felt a little off balance by it all. He knew Naruto, he hung out with him occasionally, trained with him and went on missions with him. They were friends and that should be that.

So this was why Sasuke almost jumped when a pair of hands knocked his away and began kneading his thigh muscles with a sure and firm grip. Sasuke almost flinched away.

Naruto looked highly amused. "Who's sneaking up on who now?" he taunted.

"What are you doing idiot!?" Sasuke demanded.

"You're hurt and I'm pretty sure that's my fault."

"I can take care of it myself," Sasuke told him.

So why wasn't he forcibly removing Naruto's hands? Why wasn't he simply getting up and moving away? Was it because Naruto's hands felt strong against his leg? Or was it that those fingers that dug into the muscle and worked at easing the tight pain very occasionally drifting higher up on his inner thigh than absolutely necessary? Perhaps it was simply because Naruto was kneeling in between his legs, sort of trapping him while he worked and Sasuke told himself it would be too bothersome to try and move with his leg hurting like this.

Naruto worked at it for a few minutes before he looked at Sasuke again.

"How does it feel?"

"Good," Sasuke replied softly.

And it did. And to his increasing horror he began to feel a little too good.

Why now of all times when his brain was doing some weird backflips on it's own was he in a position to have Naruto's hands on him rubbing so close to an all too neglected part of his body? Looking after your team mates injuries was all part of the job sometimes but this was a little above and beyond their usual treatment of wounds.

Thankfully though Naruto wasn't really watching a part of him that was being very physically affected by the proximity of hands. Unfortunately though, this was because Naruto's deep blue eyes were still fixed on his own.

"Want me to stop?"

Did Naruto's voice sound a little husky right then? No, it couldn't, it must have been his imagination. Naruto wasn't smiling though and Sasuke thought he felt those magic hands slide up a fraction toward his groin.

But what could he say? Did he want Naruto to stop? Sasuke realised then that no, he _really_ didn't want Naruto to stop. In fact right now he was eagerly hoping those hands might slide up just a little bit more. As it was the movement of Naruto's hands was making the cloth of his pants slide against his rapidly escalating erection problem and was teasing him enough to wonder if that rule about friends was really only meant to be a vague guideline after all.

But what would Naruto do if he said 'no'? Would Naruto know what he meant or would he just think that Sasuke didn't want him to stop because he was still in pain? Was it even worth it to risk it and find out?

Sasuke decided that yes, it was.

"No."

"Are you okay, you look kinda flushed." Naruto paused for a moment. "It, uh, actually looks good on you."

Well that was about all Sasuke was going to take of this. Of course had he been thinking properly he might have thought about what he was doing and perhaps gain some insight into why now of all times it was happening but for the whole day his eyes had been treated to all kinds of tasty sights, all normally forbidden to him and therefore ignored. That water he'd just wanted to lick off that perfect skin, the feel of solid warmth against his palms, the smell of the forest, leaves trees and dirt that called up visions now of rolling around in it while those strong hands…

Sasuke's head darted forward and his lips met Naruto's with sudden desperation. He thought for half a minute that he'd read Naruto wrong and that maybe the anxiety was back from before but then Naruto began to respond.

Big time.

Lips moved and parted and Sasuke felt his mouth breached by an eager tongue that scraped across his teeth before sliding against his own. One hand abandoned his leg to wrap around him and he felt firm fingers rake across the back of his head almost painfully pulling at his hair. But it felt good, really good. How the hell had he missed seeing this before?

All too soon Naruto drew back, lips shiny and kiss swollen, a slightly dazed look in his eyes that quickly came back into focus.

"Okay," Naruto told him, "I give, you win."

That took a little while for Sasuke's brain to decipher. And when he finally did his eyes flared open and…

…_he pushed Naruto backwards to land in the dirt at his feet._

"_Bastard!" Sasuke swore. "You did all that on purpose to mess with me! Everything today was just to tempt me!"_

Or rather that's what he wanted to do and say but the working part of his brain stopped him before he did. Ranting at and hurting Naruto were certainly tempting alternatives right now but if he really wanted to get Naruto back there were better ways than that.

And besides, the fact still remained that Naruto had tempted him to do that in the first place and even if it wasn't as innocent as all that, it still had the same results. He did obviously find Naruto attractive and since that cat was apparently out of the bag he figured he might as well play with it.

"I didn't do that because I'm still proving a point, I just wanted you to stop what you were doing and that seemed like an expedient method since for some reason you seem so pissed off about me not wanting to give you one little stupid kiss. Hopefully you're over that now. I told you this wasn't about personalities. If I did think that way… look you're one of the most good-hearted people I've ever met, if I really went for this sort of thing I'm sure I would be all over you, satisfied?"

Had Sasuke just said something _nice _to him? No way, he couldn't have. Sasuke didn't really do 'nice'. But he had just said that Naruto was one of the most good-hearted people he'd ever met. There was no way around that, Sasuke had actually given him a compliment.

But then Naruto thought it over a little more and realised that sure, while Sasuke had in fact complimented his personality he also hadn't kissed him because Naruto had been trying to tease him, he'd only done it because Naruto seemed annoyed that Sasuke had been so dismissive of him before. So basically Sasuke was still saying that he didn't find him attractive.

"You're a real asshole, ya know that?"

Sasuke smirked at him. "And here I give you two things you wanted, a compliment and a kiss and you call me an asshole."

"You were callin' me ugly and you know it!"

Of course Sasuke knew it, Naruto could tell by his expression and the fact that Sasuke would say no more on the matter.

All this time he'd been trying to get a reaction from him with all those little teases he'd thought up. He'd been very proud about how devious he was being but he probably should have known that Sasuke would see right through it. But then Sasuke wasn't exactly coming to the completely right conclusions about the 'why' behind it though.

"And I did _not_ want you to kiss me. I uh…"

But then Naruto sort of stumped himself with that one. It wasn't like he'd _wanted_ Sasuke to kiss him, he'd just wanted Sasuke to want to. Right? But now that he thought about it, that seemed strange even to him. Okay sure, he'd wanted to prove that he wasn't as easily looked over as all that, that he was good looking and if that's all Sasuke wanted in a person there should be no reason why Sasuke shouldn't want him. But then why bother with all this? Sure, he was proving something to Sasuke even if the message wasn't so well received in the end. But what did he think would happen if it had actually worked the way he'd wanted it to? Did he think that Sasuke would simply shrug and smile and admit he was wrong? Well sure, he might, when the whole world froze over and even then it was probably a slim possibility. No Sasuke would have done what he always did, do whatever the hell he wanted to achieve what he wanted and deal with whatever consequences arose because of his actions later. But even then only deal with it if he cared enough to anyway.

So really if Naruto had thought this through properly he should have known that if he had made Sasuke want to kiss him Sasuke would have. But he just hadn't thought about it.

Had he?

He liked to think at this point that he knew Sasuke pretty well. Their relationship had gotten a lot closer since his return over a year ago now and Naruto realised there should have been part of him that knew about the possible outcomes here. Had he known but just been far more desperate to make himself seem worthy that he hadn't cared? Or had he known and somehow actually wanted it to happen?

That was a very strange thought.

"Really?" Sasuke asked with an arched eyebrow. "Because you seemed to be trying pretty hard."

"That was just so you would want to. I didn't want you to actually do it!"

"Yeah, I noticed how much you were pushing me away," Sasuke replied sarcastically. "That _was_ your tongue in my mouth, wasn't it?"

To Naruto's absolute horror he felt his face heat up at that. He'd been somewhat caught up in the moment and hadn't really thought about what he was doing. He'd just _responded_.

"Yeah well you seemed so eager I wouldn't want to disappoint you," Naruto shot back.

"Uh huh, sure. Well your little experiment was a bust after all. Are you satisfied now?"

Satisfied wasn't really a word Naruto would use right now. All he seemed to gain from this was a few words of niceness, a lot of insults and a mass of confusion.

"Fuck you Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked at him. "Oh, would _that_ satisfy you then?"

Naruto barely resisted the urge to hit him and this was mainly due to the fact that he was too shocked by the suggestion, joke or not, to do anything else but glare at his friend.

"Real funny Sasuke," Naruto told him insincerely. "But I guess I am satisfied in a way after all."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you made me not care about what people think of my looks even though I still think you're totally blind. But I don't actually give a shit what _you_ think of me 'cause it's a stupid thing to care about with you. All I should care about is what people who actually _like_ me think."

It was strange but something about what he'd just said made Sasuke's smile slip just a little. "I don't hate you dobe."

"I didn't mean _like_, like that. I meant, ya know, romance and stuff. You just made me realise what should really matter, that's all."

"Good," Sasuke replied a little uncertainly. "At least you learnt something positive. Or, you know, at all. Makes a nice change."

"Bite me, teme."

* * *

It was a strange trip home with silence at first. But then their usual bickering returned and by the time they got back to Konoha it seemed to be all back to normal.

Well except for a few small details.

Naruto's little experiment had given them both a little bit to worry over. Naruto was still a little unsure and a little disturbed about his true motives as to why he'd even tried to tempt Sasuke like that. While Sasuke himself found it hard to shake off the whole temptation itself.

For Sasuke it was more than a mere state of confusion. He had hoped that once he realised Naruto was just playing with him that whatever awoken desires he'd had would fade away and he'd return to a normal mindset of Naruto = Friend or more precisely Naruto = Don't Ever Fucking Go There. He strongly felt that 'friend' meant that person shouldn't ever end up in the wanting to kiss column. He had so very few friends that meant anything to him to begin with that even the possibility of frightening that person away or at the very least destroying a good friendship just for a little fun meant that he had managed to train his brain to keep the 'fun' completely separate from the 'friend' category.

Unfortunately this didn't seem to working right now. Apparently now, even when Naruto was not consciously trying to tempt him having given that up after that first night, still managed to warm something in him he would much have rather kept cold for his own sanity. And Sasuke could see the difference now between Naruto trying to tempt him and Naruto just being his usual self and the strange thing was that the latter actually turned out to be worse now that he was aware of the attraction.

Those bright blue friendly eyes, the warm innocent happy smiles, it was, and Sasuke was disgusted to admit it, actually kind of adorable.

But annoying too. Of course he was still annoying. He talked almost constantly for hours at a time, snored like an asthmatic chain-smoking rhino and could be so stupid sometimes that Sasuke didn't know whether to smack his own forehead, the back of Naruto's head or just simply kill him…

Of course with blood on him, Sasuke wouldn't be able to see that flawless bronze skin, feel its texture or smell those earthy smells…

Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

After the mission he'd been given a few days off and for perhaps the first time in his life he didn't particularly feel like training. The idea of spending the time off actually doing relaxing things appealed to him now in a way that had never experienced before. But on his very first day he was beginning to realise that he didn't actually know any relaxing activities to do and had gotten bored by mid-morning.

He sat on the floor by his open door that lead out into his garden in a simple black kimono – the most comfortable and relaxing thing he could think to wear – and tried to enjoy the breeze flowing over him and attempting to let his mind relax. But instead it swirled with the events of the last couple of days making him uneasy and left him with the overwhelming desire to seek out company instead. And he wasn't stupid, he knew just whose company he wanted right now and he almost hated himself for it.

Naruto was his friend, it shouldn't be strange that he occasionally thought to seek him out and spend the odd moment with him. But now it felt strange and it was exactly this he had been trying like hell to avoid.

"Sasuke?"

Hearing that voice made his heart jump while simultaneously making him want to hit himself. He should not be so pleased to hear that voice.

He opened his eyes and saw Naruto standing just near his outer door with a pensive look. Sasuke saw that stupid blue envelope poking out of his pants pocket. He really wished Naruto would stop obsessing over that letter.

"What dobe, I'm busy relaxing."

This caused the look to lift a little and a faint smile to spring up. "Yeah 'cause you look really relaxed," Naruto replied slightly sarcastically.

"What do you want?"

"You meant what you said, didn't you?"

"Generally yes," Sasuke replied not sure where Naruto was going with this. "But you'll have to be more specific."

"About me being a good-hearted person."

He had meant it, but he had only admitted it to mess with Naruto. He couldn't imagine why Naruto would bring this up now.

"I guess so," Sasuke answered in what he hoped was a casual tone. "That can't be bugging you."

For some odd reason this seemed to stump Naruto for a while. "What makes you think anything is bugging me?"

"Mainly because the last time you had that look on your face we tried to kill one another."

"Something is kinda bugging me," Naruto admitted eventually. "But I don't think you'll be real helpful with that."

Normally Sasuke wouldn't _want_ to be helpful at all, but something about Naruto's entire demenour right now was making him pretty curious though he tried his very best not to show it.

"Try me."

"Uh, no."

Honestly Sasuke hadn't expected that. Naruto might dish back as good as he got most of the time but there was always that small part of him that was just like a little attention craving puppy that wanted to please people. Usually any olive branch Sasuke chose to wave in his direction was hastily grabbed. But this time Naruto seemed more than a little reluctant to share.

It only served to fuel his curiosity even more.

"So why are you talking to me if I'm so unhelpful? Surely that question earlier wasn't the entire reason you came all the way here."

Naruto actually bit the side of his bottom lip and Sasuke realised then that Naruto was actually a little embarrassed. Prodding him about it further right now would probably shut him up completely. As sharing as Naruto could be, he could be a lot more stubborn as well and that was something only time could temper. And what the hell, he was bored anyway, he might as well change boredom to frustration as well.

"I'm going to make lunch," Sasuke announced, standing abruptly. Naruto looked disappointed for the whole two seconds it took for Sasuke to add, "are you going to help make it or not?"

Then he smiled. "Sure, okay."

* * *

Naruto's morning had been a strange one. He'd gotten little sleep last night, his first night back in his bed in Konoha and he felt tired and fuzzy because of it. He should probably be using his time off to train but he felt a little too wasted to get any real enthusiasm out of the prospect to make him leave the house.

Especially because of his dream last night.

In his dream he had kissed Sasuke again. Only this time it had been longer, more touching, more tasting and a lot of moaning. He'd woken up panting and even more distressingly, very hard.

What. The. Fuck?

Of course this could be a product of his crazy mind thinking that a part of him had actually wanted to kiss Sasuke that night. It could also be compounded by the fact that this was the first night back on his own and was feeling the loss of company you got after spending a few days with a constant companion. But kissing, really?

Had he actually wanted that, had he really liked it that much, had he been unwittingly lying when he'd told Sasuke that the idea of guys and romance didn't fit into the same mindset for him?

So he spent the entire morning trying to work it out. He even grudgingly tried to imagine kissing any other of his male friends like that but all that did was gross him out whereas imagining kissing Sasuke again managed to get his heart to race in quick order.

Basically he wanted to know if it was a glitch or not. He wasn't real experienced with anything like that so he clung to the possibility that being that close to anyone might have the same effect and only worked with Sasuke because it was a practical experience he'd had to draw from rather than a completely imagined one.

Bascially he wanted to kiss him again. And not – as he constantly reminded himself – because he'd perhaps enjoyed it. He wanted to see if he got the same reaction again if he did it a second time or for longer. Would the immediate thrill wear off and he would just wake up and realise this was Sasuke and he wasn't interested in him that way? Or would the feeling simply get more intense?

A big part of him didn't want to know and just pretend it was a glitch. Another larger part of him refused to be bugged about this for longer than necessary when he might just as easily find out. Assuming of course when he did try to kiss him again Sasuke didn't try to murder him.

Who was he kidding really? What would he even say to Sasuke? 'Look I want to find out if I'm crazy or not so do you mind if I maybe kiss you again?' Yeah, Sasuke would probably go apeshit. Sasuke might have been the one to initiate it last time but he said he'd done it for reasons other than because he really wanted to. If there was no point to prove, he doubted Sasuke would be too inviting to say the least.

Perhaps it was just easier on everyone to pretend it was a glitch instead. That thought bummed him out.

And these days when he got bummed out he took out the letter in its creased blue envelope and read the contents. Even if this was also a mystery that might never he solved it sure helped to make him feel better anyway.

Until he got to a certain line that was…

_You are the kindest, amazing and most good-hearted person I have ever met…_

Naruto's eyes widened. "No way… there's no way…"

Naruto re-read the line a few times before abruptly standing and shoving the letter back into its envelope and stuffing it into his pocket.

No more confusion, he wanted answers.

Unfortunately when he arrived at Sasuke's and saw him sitting there at the door in his bedroom, head back, eyes closed, long pale neck exposed and a troubled expression, Naruto embarrassingly lost his nerve a little.

Sasuke was definitely not going to be pleased.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: Yeah I'm not sure I why I did the chapter half backwards, but it seemed like an interesting way to end it with why Naruto had come over to see Sasuke right at the very end after we've already seen Sasuke's own perspective. But oh well, I think it sort of worked. _

**Unsigned Reviews –**

_**Me – **__Here you go, hope you enjoy!_

_**Raiko – **__Well you got your wish this chapter haha ;) Thanks!_

_**Wanderer – **__Haha, don't tell me I am tempting you into reading a narusasu? Well I hope it is worth it and you enjoy it anyway. Many many thanks for even giving it a go, seriously :)_


	3. The Truth and a Little Experimentation

_**Notes:** Sorry guys, this was meant to be out like two weeks ago. But after posting for The Long Way Home work suddenly got intense and I've practically been working or sleeping most of the time. It was unforeseen and the chapter sat three quarters done for the entire time. But oh well, got there eventually in the end. To make up for it I made the chapter over a thousand words longer than it was supposed to be so I hope you all like it :)_

**Misunderstandings**

**Chapter 3**

**The Truth and a Little Experimentation**

Lunch had turned into light sparring in the garden which then turned into dinner which then somehow turned into movie night and Sasuke wasn't positive just how that had happened.

He'd thought at the time about the alternatives of either having company or being bored again and company won out every time prompting him to suggest each activity after the previous one had come to and end. And Naruto wasn't horrible company, he'd know this before all this latest drama. As annoying as he could be it was relatively easy being around him in many ways. He was uncomplicated and not someone you had to go out of your way to entertain much because he was so good at keeping himself entertained, which was pretty perfect for Sasuke. Sure they bitched at each other still and called one another names but it was all part of the fun and by the time Naruto insisted that Sasuke just _had_ to watch this particular movie he hadn't gotten around to yet, Sasuke had made him stay and watch it with him so he could delight in telling him how bad he enevitably knew the movie was going to be.

Unfortunately this was where Sasuke's usually good foresight let him down. His place was nice, had a neat little garden, but it was on the smaller side. He didn't have an entertainment room and therefore his one and only mainly unused television sat on the opposite wall across from the end of his bed. This meant that when they had decided to watch a movie they had little else to do but to sit on the bed to watch it.

Surprisingly though it was Naruto that seemed to show the most discomfort with this idea. Or was it nervousness? Either way it was pretty baffling to Sasuke who to make things easier on the both of them, sat up at the far end of his bed instead with his back against the headboard leaving Naruto with more than enough space to stretch out on his stomach with his head at the opposite end with no fear of personal space being broached.

Of course their legs were still fairly close and Sasuke was very aware of the proximity himself and it was more than a little distracting. Though perhaps not as distracting as when Naruto had taken off his jacket showing off his tanned and muscled skin of his bare arms because of the sleeveless tee he was wearing today. It also didn't help that him lying on his stomach, stretched out in front of him gave Sasuke a fine view of nicely rounded ass hidden beneath those ghastly orange pants.

Thankfully Sasuke managed to look away before Naruto turned to look over his shoulder and ask him a question.

"This is kinda nice, you know. Hanging out like this I mean. I know we sorta hang out but not usually all day."

"Don't get used to it," Sasuke told him bluntly.

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"It's only luck that we've lasted this long today without trying to kill one another."

Naruto sort of huffed in amusement and smiled. "Well, you would've if I uh… actually never mind."

Sasuke was left frowning at the back of Naruto's head at the unfinished sentence. He had a feeling this was what had been troubling Naruto earlier. But seeing as he seemed a little more comfortable now, perhaps now was the time to push a little more.

"Don't be more annoying. Say what you were going to say."

"You won't like it," Naruto told him looking steadfastly back at the TV.

"I'm not sure I like the evasiveness much either," Sasuke told him frankly.

Naruto's shoulders slumped a little before he pushed himself up to sit on his folded legs and turned to look at Sasuke.

Boy he looked nervous.

"It's about what happened the other night," Naruto began.

He didn't really need to be more specific, there weren't a lot of nights lately that would stand out in either of their minds more.

"Yeah I get it," Sasuke interrupted. "You didn't actually want me to kiss you, whatever, I heard it the first time."

Naruto winced just a little.

"I'm not so sure that was it."

Confusion was Sasuke's first reaction, followed closely by disbelief. Sasuke had completely believed Naruto hadn't actually wanted the kiss, not really. Sasuke had just told him he'd thought he had in an attempt to rib him about it and deflect suspicion that Sasuke had been the one to actually want it.

"You were just pissed I didn't want to," Sasuke persisted.

"I was. But I think I knew what would happen if I made you want to, even if you did just end up doing it to get me back. I just don't know why. And I, uh, don't know why I, um, kinda, maybe liked it a little?"

It almost sounded like a question. And Sasuke wondered if this wasn't another attempt of Naruto's to tease him again. But if it was, it was a good act. Naruto seemed genuinely nervous and embarrassed about this. It didn't seem faked. Of course on the off chance it was, Sasuke wasn't about to fall for it again. And besides, Naruto = Friend, remember? He wasn't supposed to care if Naruto hated it or liked it.

"I don't see how I am supposed to care either way," Sasuke told him harshly.

"I guess I didn't expect you would," Naruto confessed. "But it's bugging me, not knowing."

"Knowing what?"

"If it was just some kinda fluke or whatever. That I sorta reacted without thinking or something like that which made me not care who it was."

Surprisingly, that actually kind of hurt.

"That's not very flattering."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "I think you've had enough flattery to last you a lifetime anyway. C'mon Sasuke you've gotta see this is sort of a big deal in a way for me. I mean does this mean that I like guys now just because I kinda liked kissing you? I want to know if something like that was just a one off or not."

Sasuke sighed. "Fine, but I don't see how you telling me this is making it better for you."

"I, uh, actually didn't think talking about it would help much. Otherwise I would have gone to someone else. No offence."

"Then what do you want from me?"

Naruto dug his teeth into his lip for a moment as though summoning up the courage to answer. If he didn't go ahead and get to the point this time, Sasuke was pretty sure he was going to have to hit him.

"I think I need to kiss you again. You know, just to find out. And cause I've already done that with you, it just kinda seems easier."

At first Sasuke thought he'd heard him wrong. Not only was there the possibility that Naruto had enjoyed kissing him before but he wanted to do it again just to make sure. And once Sasuke understood what he was being asked he wondered what were the cons of letting him.

Best case scenario; it was a fluke and Naruto had just enjoyed the attention. Sasuke's attraction would eventually fade and things would go back to normal.

Worst case scenario; Naruto liked it again.

But even the worst case scenario wasn't so horrible. Naruto practically thought he'd liked it at the moment anyway and even if he proved that to be true for sure this time, it didn't really mean all that much when it came to the friendship. Naruto would have his answer that perhaps kissing guys was an enjoyable experience and they might well move on just like they had last time and go back to being normal friends.

So in the end Sasuke just nodded.

Naruto looked shocked. "Really?"

"Just hurry up already."

Sasuke's brusque tone must have kicked something in Naruto's brain making him lean forward swiftly and plant their lips together. It was a little more awkward than last time though, not being a spur of the moment desperate result of day-long teasing, but after a few moments Sasuke felt a tongue flick against his lower lip and he opened his mouth to twine their tongues together.

It was actually quite nice. Perhaps a shade too nice but Sasuke didn't want to push him away. He obviously needed to get something out of his system and being abrupt with him right now would not speed them back toward normalcy any faster. Besides he actually was enjoying it himself right now.

Eventually he felt a hand against his shoulder as Naruto used it to ease himself away fractionally, a little flushed and breathing deeply.

"Better?" Sasuke asked as nonchalantly as he could manage.

"Not really. It was… really good."

Okay, worst case it was… but still…

"I guess you aren't happier for knowing."

"I'm not sure… I mean it's still just a kiss, right? I mean a kiss doesn't mean I want to, you know, do more."

That statement managed make Sasuke a little more tense. At the same time though, the lingering after effects of the kiss were doing strange things to the normally sane part of his mind. It was hard to think right now why what he was doing now was such a bad idea. Naruto _did_ = Friend. Didn't that also mean he was supposed to help out a friend who needed it? Well he hadn't really done it before with anything emotional, but physical was something he could generally handle. Of course usually that meant helping in a fight, not whatever this was.

"You want to know if you liked it despite me being a guy?" Sasuke guessed.

Naruto nodded.

Sasuke tried to focus but somehow it was hard to focus on what was wrong right now.

"It's a good indication if you like the kissing, even more that you wanted it this badly. But touching would probably solve it for you."

He watched those blue eyes widen for a moment before resolutely closing his own eyes. He didn't want to see the expression at all. Of course Naruto may not even –

He felt the ties of his robe being tugged at with slightly jittery fingers before it went loose and fell away from his shoulders. He felt warm fingers curl over his shoulders, ridding his upper body almost completely of the garment as they brushed it away.

But no matter what, he was not going to interfere with this. He would not in any way take control because it was not really what Naruto needed right now and besides, it was also kind of hot to be explored like this. He had no idea what to expect and the idea was more than a little thrilling.

Tentative fingers ghosted their way down from his shoulder before stopping completely. He felt a hand against his chest but it moved no further.

"This is weird, right? I mean fine if I wanna find out about myself but we're friends. It's gonna be weird."

_Uh yeah, this is totally weird_, Sasuke thought to himself but refrained from actually voicing it. Admitting that the situation was strange, uncomfortable and awkward would make Naruto stop. He didn't actually want that at this point. Weird didn't stop it from feeling nice as far as Sasuke was concerned.

"Better to try this now with a friend and know. Besides, we'll pretend it never happened," Sasuke stated firmly.

"Oh, okay. I guess you're right. Ya know you're being really understanding about this."

"You say that like it shocks you," Sasuke informed him unimpressed.

"Well it does."

"Do you want me to…?" Sasuke began while starting to open his eyes. He figured if Naruto was going to insult him he could do without the extra headache. Besides it was nice to see how much Naruto wanted to do this.

But Naruto was quick to react, putting his hand over Sasuke's eyes for whatever reason and stopping him from continuing.

"Sorry. Jeez you're moody."

He felt the bed move and then a knee implant itself in between his slightly spread legs as Naruto shifted probably trying to get into a position where he could use his other hand while keeping Sasuke's eyes covered at the same time. He felt a hand against his collarbone, a little surer this time as Naruto dragged the pads of his fingers downwards. When he one heavy finger scraped over his nipple he could help but suck in a silent quick breath he hoped to hell Naruto hadn't noticed.

But apparently he had, though thankfully didn't say anything about it. His hand came back up, fingers deliberately brushing over the little bud this time making Sasuke bite the inside of his mouth. After all if Naruto thought _this_ was weird he would probably freak out if Sasuke made any kind of pleasurable noise.

But damn he wanted to.

Naruto's hands were inexperienced and clumsy on him but he was enjoying the feeling possibly because of that little fact.

The hand moved downwards again, skimming over and then back around his belly button before fingers stopped to tease at the skin just under where the fabric of the robe had pooled in his lap.

Regrettably Sasuke hadn't really thought this far ahead. Was Naruto planning to go lower? Did Sasuke even want him to? Well yes and no. Yes because, lets face it, he was getting pretty turned on by now. No because anything more would be a great deal harder to pretend never happened. Besides, he was pretty excited at the moment and Naruto would see that for himself if the bunched fabric wasn't in the way. How the hell would he explain _that?_ Till now he'd been pushing Naruto away by telling him that his friend just didn't do it for him. Which had been a lie as it turned out. He supposed he could just say it was an 'in the moment' thing. But he wasn't sure if that would work.

But it didn't seem to matter. Naruto's fingers had stalled where they were. Though the way he was teasing at the fabric made Sasuke think there was a part of him that wanted to continue but Naruto seemed hung up on something.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Um, nothing I guess."

"You stopped," Sasuke felt compelled to point out.

Frankly he felt like hitting himself. He shouldn't want Naruto to do this. He shouldn't want to do anything himself. But he did. His mind had been awakened to the concept of looking at Naruto in a different light. And since it had been awakened he felt a compulsion to see what he might have been missing out on. And at this point the compulsion was almost painful.

And it wasn't even like the teasing the day before last had been entirely to blame. It was what had gotten him thinking about it, but Naruto just being himself was doing even weirder things to his head now.

Even so he knew he was going to regret this. No doubt if he encouraged this to go any further, their friendship was never going to be the same. But in this very moment he knew he was going to regret stopping even more.

"Well yeah," Naruto replied obviously, though Sasuke was pleased to note, a tad breathlessly as well. "I mean you don't want me to… I mean any more would mean… Sasuke you're my _friend._"

That fucking word again.

"You'd rather find out with a stranger?" Sasuke asked.

"No. I didn't want to do this with anyone else otherwise-"

Naruto interrupted himself then by shutting his own mouth quickly. But it didn't matter, he'd just said the worst thing imaginable if he wanted Sasuke to want 'out' of this situation himself. He'd basically just told Sasuke that he'd wanted this with _him. _No one else but him. It warmed Sasuke in a way he'd never thought imaginable. It also meant that perhaps Naruto hadn't been entirely truthful before when he'd used this experiment to find out whether he liked guys in general. Sasuke realised just then that Naruto was really doing this to find out whether he liked _him_.

In a sudden move, Sasuke reached down and plucked the remaining cloth from his lap and let it drop by his side. Thanks to Naruto's hand over his eyes he couldn't see what reaction this bought about but he heard a short indrawn breath anyway.

At this point Sasuke was more than half hard. The teasing little touches, the knowledge that he had been testing Naruto just as much as Naruto had been testing him, all of it had combined to give him a _very_ nice feeling. And there was just no way Naruto could miss seeing that. And he _had_ to be looking.

"Sasuke, what…?"

"You're teasing the fuck out of me, what did you expect would happen?" Sasuke replied matter of factly.

He'd expected to shock Naruto and he probably had at first. But Sasuke never expected to hear a teasing voice reply;

"I thought I didn't do it for you?"

Sasuke was quiet for a few moments after that, not sure how to take that remark. He didn't know if he should be suspicious of Naruto maybe still just proving a point or whether coming clean would benefit him more. Oh well, there was little he could hide at this point anyway.

"Apparently I was wrong."

"That must have hurt, admitting you were wrong."

"I'm hoping I'm going to feel better about that before too much longer."

Sasuke wasn't sure if his hint was enough and he opened his mouth to make another remark when he felt the lightest of touches flutter against his length and his sentence turned into a quickly indrawn breath instead.

Naruto froze for a second at the sound and then emboldened fingers wrapped around him completely and tightly. Sasuke's mouth fell open and his head fell back and… holy crap, he couldn't remember it ever feeling this good before. And sure inexperience with other people didn't exactly show through with something like this because, let's face it, jerking off was something every guy had experience with but it wasn't like Naruto had suddenly become a master at pleasure. So why did this feel so much better? Was it even possible that the wind up to having Naruto finally touch him was _that_ intense that finally getting this was making it feel oh so much better?

Well it was possible. Hell, it was happening so it was probably more than possible. Just what the fuck had he gotten himself into? What was it about Naruto that was making this feel so much better? And just what was Naruto feeling about all of this?

Without being able to see him, Sasuke felt at a real disadvantage. He lifted a free hand up to try and pry the hand away from his eyes but his actions made Naruto stop what he was doing in a heartbeat.

"Don't," Naruto said softly.

Sasuke did stop trying to loosen the grip over his eyes momentarily.

"Why? You think I can't feel what you're doing?"

"I know you can," Naruto replied now somewhat irritated at the implication he was being stupid. "But I don't want you to give me that look."

"What look?"

"That Sasuke look."

"What…? Okay fine. I won't look, just take your hand away."

After a moment Naruto complied and Sasuke was tempted to look anyway. But he didn't, he kept his eyes closed as promised even when he felt the bed shift again and then soft lips brush against his own. He kissed back without thinking, letting his tongue get sucked into the other's mouth like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Still experimenting?" Sasuke asked already knowing the answer just as Naruto drew away.

"No, I think I have my answer," Naruto replied. "Just then when I took my hand away, your face, I just, I had to do that."

"For someone who feels comfortable enough feeling me up and kissing me, you should feel comfortable enough seeing my eyes," Sasuke pointed out.

"Sure, but not yet. I want to try something else."

Naruto scooted down and away from him then and Sasuke almost opened his eyes just from shock alone. What the hell was Naruto…

And then he felt it, something warm and wet lick the head of his leaking cock. No fucking way, Naruto wasn't really going to… I mean this was a big first for him there was no way he would…

And then he was slowly being sucked inside a mouth and Sasuke's rampant thoughts hit a pink fluffy cloud of pleasure and stopped thinking entirely. Well almost entirely. The part of his mind that wasn't reeling with sensation was still a little shell-shocked and couldn't really believe this was happening. But those were definitely Naruto's strong hands pulling him further down the bed till he was completely lying on his back, Naruto's bright blond hair tickling his belly as Sasuke reach down to wind his fingers through it and Naruto's warm wet mouth sucking him in, licking around him and apparently trying to fit as much of Sasuke into his mouth as he possibly could all in one go. He actually hit the back of Naruto's throat making the latter's throat constrict around him for a few moments while Naruto fought off the choking sensation but then seeming to realise he'd gone a little overboard drew back before plunging down again. Thankfully he seemed to have learned his lesson the first time and although it still seemed a little rocky at first he found his stride and proceeded to pleasure him in a way Sasuke could only describe as incredible, ambitious and with an apparent single mindedness to make him come in the quickest most energetic way possible. And if Sasuke didn't stop him soon he might just succeed.

"N-Naruto, s-stop," Sasuke said brokenly.

"Mmmm?" was the muffled response that only caused his throat to vibrate against Sasuke almost making him come right then and there.

"Stop, unless you want your first experience with this to end really abruptly," Sasuke managed.

Naruto did stop then and drew back little by little, letting Sasuke slide slowly from his mouth.

"I thought you were enjoying that," Naruto pointed out.

"Too much," Sasuke admitted. "What the hell has suddenly gotten into you anyway?" Sasuke asked pointedly. "A moment ago you were too nervous to ask for a kiss."

Sasuke could feel Naruto's fingers absently sweeping across the now very slick skin of his straining erection, up and down, up and down. When the fingers dipped down to flick lightly over his testicles and sometimes even further occasionally to skim over his perineum. He probably didn't even realise what he was even really doing.

The bastard.

"I guess once I've decided to do something I don't really hold back," Naruto replied eventually.

"Yeah I'm getting that," Sasuke muttered.

"This is beyond too weird for you isn't it?" Naruto guessed but strangely still didn't stop touching him. Up and down, up and down… _holy fuck did he just brush against my…_

Sasuke strained to focus on the question. Weird? Probably not as weird as it should be but that could be because his mind was still rolling against that fuzzy pink cloud of pleasure and didn't give a fuck.

"At least you…" Sasuke was momentarily derailed as Naruto's wandering fingers made light but definite contact against his hole. "For fucks sake, unless you're planning to shove something up there stop fucking doing that!" Sasuke snapped.

He hadn't really meant to say that. He'd just been thinking it so hard the words had burst free completely out of his control. And when Naruto's hand stilled and stopped touching him he pushed his head back up against the mattress underneath him in a mixture of feeling stupid and absolute frustration.

And just when he was about sure this time he'd managed to scare Naruto off for good he felt a spit slicked finger slide against him for half a heartbeat before it pushed its way inside.

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. Okay, so no more underestimating Naruto with anything _ever._ It had been a little too sudden though and Naruto wasn't exactly being gentle.

"You're not digging for gold dobe, slow down," Sasuke suggested when he could manage it.

"Tell me what to do," Naruto prompted him in a strangely sort of husky voice.

Naruto was actually enjoying doing this, that seemed obvious by this point, and _he_ hadn't even been touched yet. Well then, Sasuke decided that he might as well go with it.

Naruto followed his directions, going slowly, massaging, widening, adding and most importantly, improving his aim. When Naruto did manage to find that electric spot inside him Sasuke arched his back and made what would have been a very embarrassing sound if he actually had the ability to care at this point.

Naruto was driving him nuts and Sasuke felt his whole body winding tighter and tighter till he was about to snap. And then he came to a decision.

If this was all just some huge misunderstanding, he was going to kill him. At this point it was either fuck, or one of them, preferably Naruto, had to die.

So Sasuke let his frustrations speak for him. With both hands on Naruto's shoulders he pushed him back onto his ass ignoring the surprised yelp. Pants were all but yanked off in a frenzy and then Sasuke straddled him, holding himself up over Naruto's lap. Then he began to lower himself till he felt the head of Naruto's swollen cock push up against his opening. He took a deep breath and pushed down.

The surprised gasp beneath him told him just how unexpected the move had been but Sasuke mostly ignored it because it was followed up by a deep heartfelt groan and the feeling of fingers digging into his hips, urging him further down. Sasuke ignored that too. No matter the preparations, this was going to sting.

Sasuke leant down and put his lips next to Naruto's ear.

"If you push up right now I will murder you."

He straightened back up to regard Naruto's wide and slightly dazed up as the blond nodded.

Little by little, Sasuke took his time easing himself down, gasping a little himself as he slowly sunk onto Naruto's lap and feeling himself being slowly filled up. It was such an intense feeling that he took a few moments just sitting still to allow himself to relax and breathe for a moment.

Then he began to move. Slowly he used his legs to move himself and he heard Naruto begin to moan in earnest. He must have been teasing Naruto a great deal by the sound of it.

Very quietly he then told Naruto, "You can move now."

Naruto's fingers had been flexing against his hip bones, his muscles bunching spasmodically as he fought against the need to thrust up and now that Sasuke had apparently given him permission to do just that it seemed as though Naruto had other ideas.

Sasuke felt Naruto's arms going around him and then he was being tipped back till his back hit the bed and Naruto slid out of him.

The loss he felt at that was almost painful. He had thought Naruto had been enjoying himself to judge by the noises he had been making. But perhaps Sasuke had taken it too far after all and Naruto had just been waiting for his chance to make Sasuke stop.

But then Naruto followed him over, draping himself over Sasuke's prone body and sliding up between spread legs. He captured Sasuke's mouth in an almost desperate kiss just as Sasuke felt him push back inside. It was almost too much. Who knew Naruto had this in him? If Sasuke had known it might be like this he might have thought to blur those friendship lines a long time ago.

At first his thrusts were a little frenzied and showed his inexperience but eventually he found his rhythm of long steady thrusts that made Sasuke break off from the kiss and throw his head back only to have his neck attacked with lips and occasionally teeth as Naruto got a little too carried away. But it was amazing and if Naruto wasn't driving him slowly towards the edge of another orgasm he would have happily let this continue all night.

It was then he realised that this really wasn't going to be something he could forget about too easily. And for the first time he realised that he didn't actually want to. And he _really_ didn't want Naruto to forget it either.

* * *

"I'm going to say something and I don't want you to be mean about it."

"I can't promise that," Sasuke replied still feeling his heart pound through the hand he had resting on his chest.

"Teme!"

"Fine. What is it?"

"I still don't know what this means," Naruto confessed after a moment.

Sasuke looked over at him to see Naruto still lying on his stomach, his face turned toward him and a pensive look on his face.

"You really are a moron, aren't you? You just had sex with a guy and you're still wondering."

The part of Naruto's face that he could see frowned at him. "Yeah but I still can't imagine doing that with anyone else. Touching you was… well it was exciting. Thinking about anyone else… well… it's not really doing it for me," he confessed.

Sasuke watched that one blue eye gaze at him too shocked for a moment to breathe properly while his mind raced. Naruto might not realise what that meant but Sasuke understood what that sounded like. He just wasn't sure if he dared believe it though. It might have been the lack of oxygen from the swallow silent breaths but his mouth opened and he spoke before he realised what he was doing.

"Do you know why I didn't want to kiss you?"

Naruto didn't look happy about that reminder. "'Cause you think I'm ugly."

"It's because you are my friend," Sasuke replied. "Real friends are rare for me. I wanted to protect that and having sexual thoughts about your best friend isn't generally a healthy way to preserve that friendship. So I made myself not think about you like that."

It seemed to take Naruto a little while to process that information. He seemed confused.

"So you don't think I'm ugly?"

"No."

"You just didn't want to break the friendship?"

"That's right."

Naruto sat up suddenly and gazed down at Sasuke in open bewilderment.

"But that's so stupid!" Naruto blurted.

Now it was Sasuke's turn to look surprised. "Excuse me?"

"Well I mean it's great too," Naruto amended quickly seeing Sasuke's face begin to darken. "I never thought you'd feel that way about me. And I get it, you didn't want to risk breaking that bond but you're kinda stupid thinking that there aren't even better bonds to have with people."

"You'd better get to the point really quickly," Sasuke warned him.

"You just assume that showing interest in me would make me not want to be friends with you any more. And well, that's kinda true, but not like you think."

"It isn't?"

"No. Don't you get it, it's not that I've suddenly got an interest in guys now cause I like being with you. I think it just means that I want to be with you period. And now I feel even closer to you than I did before. You were so worried about losing a friend, you didn't even for one moment consider that you might gain something even better."

Sasuke blinked at him. He had honestly never thought about that before.

"Things don't usually work out for the better for me."

Naruto grinned at him. "That's cause you're not real optimistic."

Naruto leaned down over him and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "I really like you were so worried about losing me. But I don't think you're going to get rid of me now. _Especially_ not now."

Sasuke could help but smile a little at that. "So all your little experiment told you was that you wanted me not that you wanted guys in general then huh?"

Naruto smiled right back. "I'm not exactly complaining."

"Neither am I."

Sasuke let his arm flop onto the bed beside him, his fingers brushing against cloth – Naruto's discarded clothes – and then something thicker and rougher. He grabbed whatever it was and bought it up in front of his eyes.

It was the letter. Sasuke frowned.

"Are you still curious about who wrote this?" Sasuke asked Naruto but kept his eyes on the envelope.

"Not really," Naruto replied lazily, stifling a yawn. "I think I worked out who gave it to me."

Sasuke did look at him then to see Naruto still grinning at him.

"Who?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto abruptly stopped grinning. "Um, didn't you?"

"No."

Naruto blinked at him. "What?"

"You really thought this was from me?" Sasuke asked a little surprised.

"Well yeah. You said that thing about me being a good-hearted person. You said it the same way it was written in the letter," Naruto told him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe the phrase stuck in my head after I read it. I still meant it, but I didn't write this."

Naruto stared at him dumbfounded for a few long seconds. "Really?"

"Really."

"Oh."

"You look disappointed," Sasuke observed. "That's not what prompted tonight's little experiment did it?"

"Well no," Naruto admitted. "I still liked that kiss. But I would never have told you about liking it if I thought… Holy crap," he muttered.

"So you don't regret doing that or what you just said, even if I wasn't your secret admirer?"

"No. Sasuke that was amazing. But I, uh, kinda feel stupid for thinking it was you now."

"I'm surprised you don't feel this stupid more often."

"Shut up jerk!"

Sasuke smirked at him. "But just so you know, I don't like the idea of you reading this thing all the time and fantasising about who wrote it."

Sasuke gripped the letter in both hands and tore it easily in half.

"Wait, Sasuke! That was still a nice letter!"

"I don't care. You've got better fantasies to fulfil now."

Naruto looked a little upset about his letter for a few more moments but eventually what Sasuke had said started to sink in and he smiled a little at the thought.

"That's true."

As Naruto walked out of Sasuke's house two nights later he paused by the trashcan near the front gate and looked down at the destroyed remains of the letter in his hand.

"Oh well, guess I'll never know."

But it was hard to feel bad about that. As mysterious as it all was, he'd only wanted to know who had written it because he'd wanted to find someone who could care about him like that. And even though it appeared as though he'd been wrong about Sasuke writing it, the letter had in fact pointed him in the right direction of someone who did. He really couldn't feel bad that he'd gotten his wish even if it hadn't turned out as expected. He felt too happy about that to care.

So he dropped the two halves of the letter into the bin, shoved his hands into his pockets and started off towards home with a big smile on his face.

* * *

Across the street a pair of pale wide eyes watched from the shadows as the letter disappeared into the trash. Hinata had only been walking home and caught sight of Naruto leaving Sasuke's house. She had been torn whether to walk up and say hi or not when the familiar envelope appeared in Naruto's hand. She watched horribly disappointed as the torn letter got thrown away. But then Naruto had looked up and smiled and for some strange reason she didn't feel quite so bad anymore. Even though he hadn't kept her letter his smile seemed to tell her that the message had been well received if nothing else and that at least was something to feel good about.

The End.

* * *

_Notes: ah yes, this could have gone on for much longer but I was determined not to draw this out but only because I wanted a short story no matter how much my brain insisted otherwise. Admittedly this did end a little up in the air but I think we got the main things sorted. A few guessed that Sasuke wasn't the letter writer. A lot of people were up in the air about it. Poor Hinata *looks sheepish* _

_Many thanks again to sheechiibii for the request, it was a great idea to write even though like I said, I might have been a little worried I didn't quite get there as far as the theme went. But I hope you enjoyed it still because the ideas you gave me for this request were oh so much fun :)_

_Dash._

_Oh and btw, recently I have been reminded that I have a tumblr account so I've decided to post upcoming previews on this site as well as the Dashdom (which I may or may not eventually faze out completely) for those interested. Plus this will also give me a chance to show off the awesome pics people have been drawing for me as well. The blog is still in its infancy at the moment, mere days old, so there isn't a heap there yet, but if you are interested you can find it at: dashellz dot tumblr dot com. Yeah ffnet won't let you post links. All the current pics I have should go up within a week plus a preview for TLWH Part 8 and WNL._

Unsigned Reviews –

_**Guest – **__Haha, it was pretty funny what Naruto managed to accomplish in a single day. As you might have just read, he really can put his all into something when he wants to lol._

_**Raiko - **__*grins* well this chapter should be even more completing then haha. _

_**Guest – **__Wow, thanks. That's a really big compliment :)_

_**Guest – **__Glad you are liking the narusasu goodness. Though you might have seen I still didn't give Naruto total control in the end, I do enjoy a joint effort myself *winks*_

_**AKA – **__Yes indeed, Sasuke remembered that line from the letter though perhaps used it subconsciously. Nice catch :) Thanks so much, I'm glad you are liking it!_


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